MOSCOW, Oct 24 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. Kiev plans to sharply raise the stakes in the confrontation with Moscow. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the APU is going to undermine a "dirty" nuclear munition, the creation of which is already "at the final stage." About what it threatens - in the material of RIA Novosti.
Rich stocks
A "dirty bomb" is usually understood as a container with a radioactive isotope and an explosive charge. Unlike the "pure" serial ones, this product contains "contagious" substances capable of covering a vast territory with decay products for a long time.
What a bomb looks like depends on the quantity and properties of the source material. One of the possible options is the deliberate undermining of a non—military nuclear installation.
"According to the plans of the Kiev regime, the detonation of such a munition can be disguised as an abnormal operation of a low—power Russian nuclear munition, in which highly enriched uranium is used as a charge," Igor Kirillov, head of the radiation, chemical and biological protection troops of the Russian Armed Forces, said at a briefing. "The presence of isotopes in the air will be subsequently detected by sensors of the international monitoring system installed in Europe, followed by the accusation of the Russian Federation in the use of tactical nuclear weapons."
According to him, uranium oxide from fuel elements located in spent nuclear fuel storage facilities and pools at nuclear power plants is most likely to be a radioactive substance. In particular, Chernobyl.
A destroyed building in the vicinity of Energodar Image source: © RIA Novosti / Evgeny Biyatov
"The explosion of a low—power munition with a nuclear charge will lead to radioactive contamination of an area of up to several thousand square kilometers," explained the representative of the Ministry of Defense. — After that, Kiev expects to intimidate the local population, increase the flow of refugees to Europe and expose Russia as a nuclear terrorist. The Ministry of Defense has already organized work to counter possible provocations from Ukraine. Forces and means are ready to perform tasks in conditions of radioactive contamination."
"Outright provocation"
According to the military, there have been many radioactive burial grounds in Ukraine since the Soviet Union. They can be used for military purposes. However, such a bomb is difficult to use on the battlefield.
"It's about provocation," military expert Alexei Leonkov clarifies. — Terrorist attacks in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, an attempt to blow up the Crimean Bridge, a number of other operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine — all this suggests that Kiev is not going to stop. The calculation is clear — to force us to strike big. But as soon as we do, we will be declared outcasts."
The analyst believes that the only way to resist such tactics is to continue to bend your line on the battlefield. So far, the APU, he notes, has numerical superiority. And the most pressing issue for the Russian army is "to eliminate this advantage."
International resonance
It is not the first time that Moscow is talking about the possibility of Kiev using a "dirty bomb". So, on February 25, Special Representative to the UN Vitaly Nebenzia stressed that Russia would not allow the appearance of such weapons.
Ukrainian firefighters during extinguishing a fire at an energy facility in the Khmelnytskyi region Image source: © Photo : State Emergency Service of Ukraine
Now Moscow is reporting this in a targeted manner, assuring that "there is a threat." Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu called colleagues from France, Great Britain, Turkey and the United States within one day.
"Shoigu agreed with some of his interlocutors to hold additional consultations on this topic at a professional level," the Foreign Ministry noted.
The issue of restoring Ukraine's nuclear status is by no means an idle one. Vladimir Zelensky, speaking at the Munich Security Conference in February, very transparently hinted that Kiev is ready to regain weapons of mass destruction. This statement, as the Kremlin has repeatedly pointed out, was one of the reasons for the special military operation.
In the West, they reacted quite quickly — and with great skepticism. Nevertheless, an IAEA mission will soon leave for Ukraine.
